Janesville police chief pushes to close Quotes

Quotes, a Janesville bar with a history of trouble with police, is up for sale, but Police Chief Dave Moore said that won't stop him from pursuing revocation of the bar's liquor license.

Dave Moore

Denise Carpenter

JANESVILLE--Quotes, a Janesville bar with a history of trouble with police, is up for sale, but Police Chief Dave Moore said that won't stop him from pursuing revocation of the bar's liquor license.

Moore cannot remember a revocation hearing being held in recent Janesville history.

Moore will meet with the city's Alcohol License Advisory Committee in a special meeting sometime this week to get support for the revocation. He hopes to quickly follow that with a hearing before the council, the governing body that can revoke the license.

Moore believes he must move quickly because of the dangerous environment at the bar, 24 N. Main St.

“We feel this would be a safety issue,” Moore said. “We've had a number of people injured at Quotes and need a quick resolution.”

A revocation hearing is a quasi-judicial proceeding that allows all sides to give testimony. Both Moore and the council would have their own attorneys, and owner Denise Carpenter could have representation, as well.

Moore had asked in an Oct. 21 letter that Carpenter agree to close by 12:30 a.m. to halt revocation efforts. She had until Nov. 1 to respond.

No steps have been made to comply with his request, Moore said.

“It's still not resolved, and it's Nov. 11,” Moore said.

Moore asked for the earlier closing time because that tactic had some success last year, when Carpenter agreed to close early for six months.

Moore said public safety is the department's responsibility. At the same time, Moore said, he must consider Quotes' rights as a business.

Moore said the department couldn't force Carpenter to shorten the bar's hours. Most of the serious problems there happen after 12:30 a.m., he said.

“We keep revisiting the same issues,” Moore said.

“It's been the history of Quotes. “There's been these issues of disorder and violence. In 2012, quite frankly, we spent thousands of dollars of taxpayer dollars to get (the sanctions), only to be revising it in 2013. We're going to be spending taxpayer money again.

“We're putting a significant amount of our resources down there at Quotes to the exclusion of the other 62,000 people in the community.”

Acting City Manager Jay Winzenz said in a memo to council members that the “safety concerns are such that the police chief believes this matter is urgent and requires prompt action.”

Councilman Jim Farrell, in response to the memo, wrote that he is fed up with the bar.

“We need to stop negotiating with them,” Farrell said.

A woman who answered the phone at Quotes confirmed the business is for sale. The sale is listed with First Weber Group for $775,000.